


The Magic of Mistletoe

by TheAwkwardLadyJay



Series: 25 Days of Ego Christmas [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Fighting, Fluff, M/M, but he fixes his mistakes, dark is kind of a dick, i don't know how to tag, marvin is matchmaker, mistletoe is involved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 08:41:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12884184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAwkwardLadyJay/pseuds/TheAwkwardLadyJay
Summary: “You always tell me that it’s fine that I don’t love you,” the man continued, ruthless as ever, “That you have enough love for the both of us. Well, where’s that love, Anti?” his voice was raising, his words turning into a roar, “I’m not seeing it, Anti. Where’s all your love?”The slap echoed through the room. Anti sucked in a breath, hoping to calm down enough to get his words out without his voice shaking, “I said get out, Dark. I don’t want you here anymore.”





	The Magic of Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> Something I wrote for day one of @jim-news' 25 Days of Ego Christmas event over on Tumblr. The prompt is Mistletoe.  
> I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It was also super fun to write. I wrote it at three in the morning, so please ignore any mistakes.
> 
> And please enjoy!!

“If you want a normal life so bad, go find yourself a normal girlfriend, asshole!” Anti screamed.

Dark glared at him from the stairs, voice low and cold, “Anti, shut up. You’re overreacting again.”

Anti froze, his form flickering violently. He turned to Dark, his eyes brimming with angry tears, “What did you just say to me?” his voice was deadly quiet, static making it almost inaudible.

“You heard me,” Dark sneered, “I didn’t give what you want and now you’re throwing a tantrum. Just knock it off already. Nobody wants to hear your whining.”

The tears overflowed. They dripped down Anti’s frozen face slowly. He swallowed and nodded, “I see. Well, in that case, you had better leave. I’m going to be whining for a while longer. If you don’t want to hear it, get out.”

Dark’s eyes widened slightly, “You’re kicking me out?”

Anti glared at him, tears still dripping down his cheeks, “Get. Out.”

The larger man chuckled, “You’re cute when you’re mad. I think I’m going to stay for a while longer.”

The buzz of static filled the air. Anti’s form was glitching so hard, parts of him were completely invisible, “Dark, I swear to all the unholy things on this planet, if you don’t leave, I will-”

“You’ll what? Stab me? Hit me? What could you possibly do to me, Anti?” Dark interrupted, his upper lip curled in disdain, “You’re weak. You would never hurt me. You could never bring yourself too. You know why?” he sauntered towards Anti, “It’s because you love me. Your emotions make you weak.”

Anti’s bottom lip trembled at the words, at the reminder that Dark didn’t love him. The reminder that he could never love him.

“You always tell me that it’s fine that I don’t love you,” the man continued, ruthless as ever, “That you have enough love for the both of us. Well, where’s that love, Anti?” his voice was raising, his words turning into a roar, “I’m not seeing it, Anti. Where’s all your love?”

The slap echoed through the room. Anti sucked in a breath, hoping to calm down enough to get his words out without his voice shaking, “I said get out, Dark. I don’t want you here anymore.”

Dark slowly cracked his neck, rubbing the place where Anti had slapped him. He looked down at his lover, eyes dark and stormy. Something in the smaller man’s eyes told him that the man was serious this time. With a huff, he walked past, slamming their shoulders into each other.

Anti stumbled at the contact, his tears completely blurring his vision now. By the time he got them wiped away, Dark was gone.

His knees gave out at the realization of what he had just done. He hit the floor hard, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t care. Everything was numb. He couldn’t feel anything but the ache in his heart and the tears on his cheeks. A broken sob ripped its way out of his chest. Once the one escaped, he couldn’t stop the others. They poured from him like vomit, his throat growing soar at the onslaught.

Marvin found him like that, hours later. His sobs had died down to wet hiccups, the tears still streaming from his eyes. The magician carefully knelt next to him, his gaze wandering over the glitching man worriedly.

“Anti?” he whispered, placing a gloved hand on the glitch’s shoulder, “Anti, what happened?”

The man didn’t respond. He slowly forced himself into a sitting position, dislodging Marvin’s hand. He looked at the magician, his gaze blank and unseeing, “I’m fine,” he mumbled, voice hoarse from his sobs. He dragged himself into a standing position and shambled towards the stairs, pretending to not feel Marvin’s gaze on his back.

He managed to drag himself all the way to his room, where he immediately face-planted onto his bed. More tears leaked from his eyes and he angrily sat up, scrubbing them away. He had cried enough for that asshole. It was time to suck it up and start getting over him. His body disagreed. He fell back onto the bed, the tears continuing, forming small puddles on his pillow. He laid there for a long time, the tears never ending. Eventually, he fell asleep.

Over the week, Marvin’s worry grew. Anti seemed off. His eyes were constantly swollen, his personality more sour than usual. Whatever had happened that night Marvin found him had been bad.

One day, a little over a week after Anti’s incident, Marvin noticed the glitch glaring at his phone. It continually rang, but as soon as it started to vibrate, Anti would punch the decline button. He seemed to be getting more and more agitated as time passed. Eventually, he muttered an excuse and left. Marvin heard what sounded like an object being thrown at a wall shortly after.

Neither Jackie nor Schneep seemed concerned about Anti’s behavior. They continued to eat and be merry like the glitch hadn’t just tried to murder his phone. Annoyed, Marvin dropped his fork onto his plate. The loud ring it caused effectively got everybody’s attention. The magician glared at his siblings, not at all impressed with their behavior. They simply stared back expectantly.

“So I take it none of you have noticed that Anti seems off?” he asked pleasantly, his voice cold.

Jackie shrugged, “Anti is always off, isn’t he? He’s kind of erratic that way.”

Henrik nodded, “Yes. There has never been anything regular about him. I am sure whatever has him riled up will pass quickly.”

Marvin gritted his teeth, “I found him crying in the foyer last night. His eyes were swollen this morning too. Do either of you pay any attention to anything but yourselves?”

The two looked affronted.

“Of course we do!” Jackie yelped, “Anti has never been one to like people digging around in his business. We figured it would be best if we just give him some space. He can take care of himself.”

Marvin shook his head, “He shouldn’t have to.” He angrily stood, almost knocking his chair over, “I’m going to go and figure out what’s going on. You two stay here and keep doing whatever the hell you do.”

He stomped from the room, infuriated. He understood that they didn’t like Anti, but he was still part of the group, part of the family if you will. He still deserved help, even if he was an annoying piece of shit most of the time.

Thuds came from upstairs. Marvin paled when he realized they were coming from Anti’s room. He dashed up the stairs, barging into the glitch’s room with a war cry. Magic was flowing between his fingers, his hands glowing with all of it, “What’s happening? Who’s there?”

Anti hissed at his intrusion, turning to glare at him, “What the hell are you doing?” he hissed, “Get out of my room.”

Marvin looked around in confusion. He was sure he had heard a fight up here. His eyes landed on the wall and realization flooded through him. Holes had been punched into the drywall, some the size of fists and some the shape of a knife puncture. He looked at Anti’s hands, his eyes widening, “Shit, Anti. You’re bleeding all over the place.”

The glitch glanced down at his knuckles, slight surprise crossing his features when he realized that blood was leaking from several cuts on his fingers. He looked back up at Marvin and shrugged, “It doesn’t hurt, so it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s terrible logic. Just because it doesn’t hurt does not mean that you can just let it fester. Give me your hands.”

Anti sneered at him, “I don’t think so, Magician. I’m perfectly fine painting my room red, thank you very much.”

“I don’t care. Give me your hands.” Before Anti could respond, Marvin was grabbing his wrists, pushing his magic into the glitch to hold him still, “I’m just going to wrap your hands and then you are going to tell me what’s going on. You are obviously not doing okay.”

“What the hell did you do? Let go!” he struggled against Marvin’s hold, but the magic kept him still, “I swear, you are going to pay for this as soon as you let me go.”

Marvin chuckled, inspecting the older man’s knuckles, “I don’t think I will. Quite honestly, I don’t think you’re going to be punching a whole lot for the next little while. You’ve done quite a number on yourself.”

“Try me.”

“I’d rather not. Now, while I wrap these, go ahead and explain why you’re so agitated. And don’t say you’re fine. Even Jackie realized that something was up even though he’s too dumb to realize he should do something about it. Now spill,” Marvin demanded, summoning a roll of gauze and carefully sticking it on the bloody knuckles.

Anti remained stubbornly quiet. He glared at nothing while Marvin worked, his jaw clenched so tightly Marvin could hear his teeth grinding together. When the magician finished, he sat back, folding his arms over his chest. Anti’s gaze flicked to him, a triumphant glint in his eyes.

Marvin grinned at him smugly, “I’m not letting you go until you talk.”

Anti’s triumph evaporated, “Then you’re going to be here for a very long time. I’m not telling you anything. I can deal with my own problems by myself.”

They stared at each other for several minutes, neither willing to break the silence. A muffled buzzing caught Marvin’s attention. He glanced around, trying to find the source of the noise. Anti grimaced when he heard the noise, his eyes flicking towards the wall. Marvin followed his gaze, standing and wandering over towards the noise.

“No. Don’t,” Anti muttered, panic flashing across his face.

Marvin turned to him solemnly, “Dark did something, didn’t he?”

Anti’s silence was answer enough.

Marvin bent down and rummaged through the pile of wall debris, letting out a small triumphant noise when he found Anti’s phone. He looked at the caller screen. Dickhead was displayed in large letters. He swiped to answer and held the phone to his ear, ignoring Anti’s frantic cursing.

“Anti, look, I’m sorry. Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Marvin glanced at Anti, surprised, “Dark?” he said into the receiver.

Silence from the other side and then, “Who is this?”

“This is Marvin, Anti’s… brother.”

Anti jerked in surprise at the title.

“Why do you have Anti’s phone?”

“Why are you calling him?” Marvin shot back, “Going from the twenty missed calls, I’d say he doesn’t want to talk to you. Now, why is that? I thought you two were a thing.”

Another silence. “That’s none of your business. Put Anti on the phone. I need to speak with him.”

Marvin pretended to think about it, humming softly into the phone, “No, I don’t think I’m going to do that.”

Dark snarled, “I have something important to say to Anti. If you don’t put him on the phone now, I will murder you.”

“No, you won’t,” Marvin sighed, “because I won’t let you. You hurt one of the people I care about. That’s not something I take lightly. See, I don’t have very many people that I care about, so I suggest that you shut up and do what I say, okay?” his voice was icy, every syllable sharp enough to cut, “What is going to happen is you and me are going to meet and talk, because Anti is too prideful to talk about what happened. You are going to tell me exactly what you did to my brother and then you are going to help me fix it, do you understand, you piece of shit bottom feeder?”

He hung up before Dark could respond. He tossed the phone onto the bed next to Anti, “Are you sure you’re not going to tell me what happened? It would be much easier to hear it from you than from him.”

Anti clamped his lips shut.

Marvin shrugged, “Be that way. I’ll figure out what happened one way or another,” he waved his hand, releasing the magic holding Anti’s hands together, “There you go.”

He turned to leave. Anti’s voice made him stop, “I broke up with him.”

Marvin froze, “What?”

“I couldn’t do it anymore. He didn’t love me and we both knew it. I thought I would be able to handle a one-sided relationship, but I was wrong. I broke things off and he… didn’t take it well. He said some hurtful things, some hurtful truths. That’s all that happened.”

Marvin turned to him, “I’m sorry, Anti. I’m going to beat him up for you, okay?”

Anti huffed but didn’t argue. His eyes looked suspiciously shiny. Marvin left him there, heading for the front door. He reached it right as the doorbell rang. With a roll of his eyes, he swung it open. How dramatic did you have to be to time your entrance?

He met Dark’s soulless gaze with a glare, “I hope you’re ready to make amends.”

The larger man sighed, “Look, I screwed up. I realize that. Can I please talk to Anti?”

Marvin shook his head, “Not until we talk. First, I have to berate you for hurting my brother and then I think I found something that will help fix your guys’ problem.”

Dark rolled his eyes, “Fine. Just get it over with. Yell however much you’d like.”

“Oh, I won’t be the one yelling,” he snarled. He rolled a ball of magic into his hand and swung, striking Dark square in the jaw.

The man stumbled from the impact. He gasped in pain, covering the spot with one hand. He checked for blood and straightened his jacket when he didn’t find any, “Was that really necessary?”

“Yes,” Marvin snapped, “Now sit down. You’re going to tell me your side of the story and if I deem you worthy, I’ll help you get back with my brother.”

“And if I’m not worthy?”

“Then I kick you out and put up warding spells against you so you can never hurt him again.”

Dark looked impressed, “Fair enough.”

“What did you say to my brother when he broke up with you?” Marvin asked, not giving Dark any time to think.

The man hesitated. If Marvin didn’t know that Dark didn’t have emotions, he would have thought he looked guilty. “I told him that I didn’t love him. I called him weak and a child. I made fun of his love for me.”

Marvin really wanted to punch him again, “What did you do after he kicked you out?”

Dark shrugged, “I wandered around pissed for a little while. I never thought he would actually kick me out, or break up with me. I thought that his love was eternal. I assumed that it would uphold against anything that I threw at it. I was pissed that I had been wrong. I was pissed that he had ended things. Eventually, I found myself at a park. I sat there for a while, just being angry, and then a friend of mine found me. I ranted to him about what had happened. Of course, I wanted him to take my side, but he punched me too. He called me an idiot and berated me for a few minutes about how Anti was the best thing that had happened to me. I scoffed at that, of course. I told him that if Anti was the best thing that had ever happened to me, I wouldn’t be sitting in a park, pissed off and single. He didn’t like that answer, so he punched me again. He then continued to yell at me about how I’d regret not trying harder with Anti. I never thought I would agree with him. Once I got him to shut up and take me home, I decided to sleep on it. When I woke up, I realized what he had meant. I was used to waking up to a morning call from Anti, but my phone was silent. I was used to meeting Anti at the little coffee shop by the park, but when I got there, I was alone. I was used to looking over while driving and seeing Anti staring at me, the stars in his eyes and sunshine on his lips. I was used to his beauty being in every part of my life, but suddenly he was gone. I realized that I missed him. I missed having him with me. I missed his sass and his pranks. Hell, I even missed when he would get mad and pull that damn knife out of nowhere. When I was with Anti, I was barely putting any effort into the relationship. I didn’t see the point. Like I said, I thought his love would pull through anything. Now,” he paused, sucking in a shaky breath, “Now that I know what it’s like to be without him, I want to try again and I want to properly try this time. This past week has been hell without him. I don’t want to lose him again. Please, if there’s something you can do to stop that from happening, do it.”

Marvin stared at Dark in shock, “I thought Anti said that you can’t feel any emotion other than anger.”

Dark nodded, “I can’t.”

“Well, it sounds an awful lot like you can feel love too. Honestly, that sounded like a love confession if I’ve ever heard one, even if it didn’t actually use the L word.”

“So you’ll help?” Dark questioned, almost looking nervous.

Marvin nodded, “Yeah, you’ve convinced me. I’m going to need the kitchen to get everything ready, so go sit in the hallway. And don’t touch anything!” he shoved Dark out and slammed the door. He grinned at the table. He had been wanting to use this spell on someone for ages! He clapped his hands together and got to work.

Nearly an hour later, it was finished. He held the small plant up proudly, inspecting its sparkling leaves. Everything seemed to be in place. He now just had to hang it up and lure his victims into its trap.

He slammed the door open, striding past Dark. The man scrambled up, following behind him, “Is it done?”

“Almost. I just need to… Ah ha!” he found the spot he was looking for. Using his magic, he carefully hung the small plant over the top of the stairs, “And voila. Now you and Anti just need to stand underneath that at the same time.”

“It will fix our problems?”

“No, it won’t fix them, but it will make it easier too. Just trust me, big guy,” he patted Dark’s shoulder, “If you really feel that way about Anti, then you two will be able to figure something out. Now, go stand under the mistletoe.”

Dark complied, looking up at the plant as Marvin shouted for Anti to come down. The soft click of a door opening and closing was heard, followed by Anti’s forlorn footsteps.

As soon as he saw Dark, he froze. His face closed off completely, “What the hell is he still doing here?” he growled, eyes never leaving Dark.

Marvin smiled up at him, “Dark told me everything that happened and I think it would be good for you two to talk this out. Just trust me, Anti.”

The glitch took a few more steps forward, keeping as much distance between him and Dark as possible, “There’s nothing to talk about. We broke up. It’s over. Simple as that.” He stepped onto the first step and froze. He stepped back, looking at the stairs in confusion, “What the hell,” he mumbled as he tried to step past the first step. As soon as his foot touched the first step, his whole body froze. Anti’s eyes flashed, “Marvin, what the hell did you do?”

The magician shrugged, slowly backing away, “You know the myth about mistletoe and kissing? Well, it might not be a complete myth. If you mix mistletoe with the right elements, you can create a barrier that will trap any two people. It can, of course, only be broken by a kiss. Have fun you two!” he twirled around and sauntered away.

Anti yelled after him, his form beginning to glitch, “Marvin! Get your ass back here and fix this! Marvin!” After a few minutes, the glitch slouched to the floor.

Dark stepped towards him, hesitantly reaching out to him. Anti smacked his hand away, “Don’t touch me,” he snarled, “You don’t care about me remember?” he struggled back to his feet, his face twisted into an ugly scowl, “Let’s just kiss and get this bullshit over with.”

He leaned towards Dark, but the man backed away, “Anti, stop. Let’s talk about it, okay?”

Anti’s glare hardened, “What’s the matter? It’s not like it would be the first meaningless kiss we shared. Or am I just so annoying you can’t even bear to kiss me now?”

Dark shook his head, “No, Anti, that’s not it. Will you just listen for a minute, please?”

Anti gasped, “Was that a please I heard!? The great Darkiplier is saying please now? You really must be desperate. What do you want from me, though? You’ve already taken everything from me. Am I just supposed to be your sex toy now?”

Dark surged forward, pressing Anti against the wall. He covered the smaller man’s mouth with one hand, keeping his hands down by his side with the other, “Anti, listen to me for one damn second. You’re always talking and you never listen. So for once in your life, just listen.”

Anti licked along Dark’s palm, making the larger man jump back. He cackled.

“Really? Was that necessary?” Dark growled.

Anti raised an eyebrow, “I thought it was,” he lowered himself to the ground, sitting cross-legged with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, “Well, you wanted to talk, so talk.”

Dark sighed, wiping the last of the saliva on his pants, “I have a few things I need to say, so you need to let me finish. First of all, I’m sorry. I should never have pushed you as hard as I did. I realize that now. I promise that nothing like that will ever happen again. Second, I need you to know that I think you are gorgeous. I realized that I never actually tell you that. But you are. You are easily the most beautiful thing on this planet and I should never have taken you for granted. The way your eyes shine when you’re happy and how your skin reflects the moonlight. It’s all amazingly beautiful. Third, Anti, I realized that I don’t think I can live without you anymore. Just that one week away from you was terrible. All the light was gone from my life. Your usual wit wasn’t there to make me laugh. Your smile wasn’t there to blow me away. Your pranks weren’t there to remind me that anger isn’t the only response to everything. You have brought something into my life, Anti, and it has changed me completely. I don’t know what it is, but it puts a warmth in my chest that I’ve never experienced before. It fills me with the desire to always be with you. I’ve never experienced love before, but from what I’ve been told, I think I love you.”

Anti stared at him, completely unimpressed, “Dark, if there is one thing I know about you, it’s that you are an incredible liar. So, I don’t believe you.”

For the first time in his life, Dark felt like crying, “Anti, please. I know I hurt you and I know I screwed what little happiness we did have up, but please. Give me a second chance. I promise I won’t screw it up this time.”

Anti stood, eyeing Dark up and down carefully. After a moment, he stepped closer, placing his hands on Dark’s chest, “I know you better than anyone else, Dark. I know that your favorite cereal is Captain Crunch and that you prefer plain chocolate over all other ice cream. I know that if given the chance, you would go explore space, even if it killed you. And I know that when you lie, you brush your fingers through your hair. So, Dark, tell me again.”

Dark breathed out slowly, searching Anti’s eyes for any sign of a trick, “Anti, I think I love you.”

Anti closed his eyes, letting the words wash over him. He leaned against Dark, pressing his forehead against the taller man’s shoulder, “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you to say those words.”

Dark wrapped his arms around Anti, pulling him impossibly close, “Far longer than you should have.”

“I’ll give you a second chance, but if you screw it up again, I’m done. Your love confession won’t win me back a second time,” Anti whispered into his shoulder.

Dark nodded, holding the smaller man even tighter, “I won’t, I promise. I’ll do everything in my power to make this up to you, Anti. I promise.”

Anti pulled back far enough to cup Dark’s cheeks, “How about we seal it with a kiss?”

The kiss was short and sweet. Dark pulled away and grinned, “If that’s what all our kisses are going to be like now, I think I can get used this.”

Anti laughed and pulled him down for another. Above them, the mistletoe twinkled happily.


End file.
